In with the new and out with the old. KJHK hauled the old rotation out the window – utter sonic defenestration. What is left is the freshest of the fresh. With new music from the XX and Run the Jewels making huge headlines this week, there were some pleasant surprises coming from artists just breaking the mold. Both new and returning artists picked up serious steam this week and what results is a serious amount of diversity. Enjoy 2017 and take a look at the top chart and adds for this week!
TOP 5 ADDS
5. Big Things and Little Things by Truckstop Honeymoon
This Kansas group of alt-country wonder delivered what their fans wanted. There is a diversity of emotion and tune on this record. There are songs about a most incompetent certain governor of a certain state and songs about heartbreak. There are elements of jazz, folk, and bluegrass on this record that appropriately evoke 11 years worth of reflection and experience.
8/10
4. Graveyard of Good Times by Brandon Can’t Dance
Brandon Ayres AKA Brandon Can’t Dance is a Philadelphian bedroom-pop musician that frequents the Alex G DIY scene. It is all-too often that these records inhabit a sort of specific sound that is characterized by fuzzed-out power chords and moans. Thankfully, on this LP, there is a diversity of sound. From “Pop Queen of the Teen Scene” – which has a sort of heartbroken ’80s slow-glam vibe – to the dancey “Smoke and Drive around.” Brandon might not be able to dance but he sure knows how to capture attention.
7/10
3. Run The Jewels 3 by Run The Jewels
There is no album more representative of their career than this new LP. The works are on here – humor, anger, confidence, political outrage, and punchy electronic beats. Each line reeks of a rage and frustration for the American government so strongly that its impossible to not be writing an angry tweet while listening. The scathing hot tracks will bern the target so badly that they will try making universal healthcare a thing.
7/10
2. Apocalipstick by Cherry Glazerr
Apocalipstick is exactly the sort of bleeding-heart grunge that is needed right now. The guitars are loud and the drums punch. Though the tempo gives a solid bit of variation, the overall result are frank, catchy apologies and grievances with a more introspective orientation. The angst on this LP is absolutely insidious.
9/10
1. Nothing Feels Natural by Priests
Nothing Feels Natural is post-punk done the most appropriate way. There are statements on this album that are truly external evaluations of political discord, however, the bulk of these songs are caught in the in-between. One of the more popular tracks on this LP, “Nothing Feels Natural,” is a look into the gut-wrenching surreal experience of early morning twitter-feed scrolling that is filled with a surreal feeling of constant disbelief. These songs are pushed forward with hollow fuzz and cavernous drums that fill the sound and punch through to this infrequently-explored in-between. These moods are not external and these moods are not introspective, but instead they are feelings that are reliant on the quick-shift of society.
9/10
TOP 5 CHARTS
5. Graveyard of Good Times by Brandon Can’t Dance
[See above!]
4. Migration by Bonobo
Simon Green AKA Bonobo has been around for a while. Chillwave would not be a thing if it were not for this 40-year-old wonder child who pioneered marrying trance with something much mellower. His tunes are the paramount South Miami Beach club thumps at any luxurious hotel but most interestingly, this album slightly departs from that. Although he has classically always had a rolling sound to each one of his releases, this album is filled with melody and structure in a way that the Brit has never achieved.
3. Nothing Feels Natural by Priests
[See above!]
2. I See You by the XX
I See You is what happens when goths watch musicals. I kid, but only slightly. I See You boasts a maturity that, until this point, has not been seen in the heartbroken ballads frequenting the British triad’s career. Most notable about this album is the long pauses that are filled only the trademark male-female collaboration. The progression in thier album can also be seen in the more bold use of sampling – following on the heels of Jamie XX’s In Colour. This album certainly meets its anticipation
1. Apocalipstick by Cherry Glazerr
[See above!]
TOP 5 ADDS
| Rank | Artist | Recording | Label | User Supplied Version |
| 1 | PRIESTS | Nothing Feels Natural | Sister Polygon | |
| 2 | CHERRY GLAZERR | Apocalipstick | Secretly Canadian | |
| 3 | RUN THE JEWELS | Run The Jewels 3 | Run The Jewels | |
| 4 | BRANDON CAN’T DANCE | Graveyard Of Good Times | Lucky Number |
* indicates information which has not yet been verified by CMJ staff.
TOP 30 CHARTS
| Rank | Artist | Recording | Label | User Supplied Version |
| 1 | CHERRY GLAZERR | Apocalipstick | Secretly Canadian | |
| 2 | XX | I See You | Young Turks | |
| 3 | PRIESTS | Nothing Feels Natural | Sister Polygon | |
| 4 | BONOBO | Migration | Ninja Tune | |
| 5 | BRANDON CAN’T DANCE | Graveyard Of Good Times | Lucky Number | |
| 6 | RUN THE JEWELS | Run The Jewels 3 | Run The Jewels | |
| 7 | FLAMING LIPS | Oczy Mlody | Warner Bros. | |
| 8 | RON GALLO | Heavy Meta | New West | |
| 9 | FOXYGEN | Hang | Jagjaguwar | |
| 10 | REGRETTES | Feel Your Feelings Fool! | Warner Bros. | |
| 11 | ZAVALA | Fantasmas | ||
| 12 | ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO | Burn Something Beautiful | Fantasy | |
| 13 | THIGH MASTER | Early Times | Bruit District | |
| 14 | AUSTRA | Future Politics | Domino | |
| 15 | JOHN WESLEY COLEMAN III | Microwave Dreams | Super Secret | |
| 16 | TRUCKSTOP HONEYMOON | Big Things And Little Things | ||
| 17 | PHOENIX AFROBEAT ORCHESTRA | PAO | ||
| 18 | NOUVELLE VAGUE | I Could Be Happy | Kwaidan | |
| 19 | TY SEGALL | Ty Segall (2017) | Drag City | |
| 20 | BELLOWS | Fist And Palm | Double Double Whammy | |
| 21 | STEF CHURA | Messes | Urinal Cake | |
| 22 | YOU BLEW IT! | Abendrot | Triple Crown | |
| 23 | FLOCK OF DIMES | If You See Me, Say Yes | Partisan | |
| 24 | A TRIBE CALLED QUEST | We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service | Epic | |
| 25 | DEVIN FRANK | The Vanishing Blues | Cartouche | |
| 26 | SESHEN | Flames And Figures | Tru Thoughts | |
| 27 | PHANTOGRAM | Three | Republic | |
| 28 | GROWLERS | City Club | ||
| 29 | STRFKR | Being No One, Going Nowhere | Polyvinyl | |
| 30 | ABLEBODY | Adult Contemporaries | Lolipop |
* indicates information which has not yet been verified by CMJ staff.